The buzzword "resiliency" has been thrown around this meeting freely. From the psychological standpoint, Lahad said, resilience means adaptability and the ability to capitalize on resources that makes a place inherently strong.

The ideal recipe for planning and response includes a combination of stress reduction training, internal strength, and focus on the positive, he argued.

Training itself may be simple enough. Psychologists use stress management techniques in order to create "islands of resiliency," which remain robust long after training sessions have ended. Such instruction seems to help even if only a small portion a population receives it.

The inherent qualities of the people in the community make the real difference in recovery -- whether those affected ultimately experience post-traumatic stress disorder or "post-traumatic growth." What it takes is the community's own belief that recovery is possible.

Attitude matters too. Lahad argued that communities that have faith in their leaders, attachment to their place, and the ability to tell themselves positive stories about what has happened have better long-term outcomes.

Professional responders should "empower the local experts, or people who have less knowledge but who are part of the community," he said. Such empowerment pays off when aid workers from far away eventually pack it in and head home.

The challenge for disaster responders is to stress what a community has rather than immediately focusing on what they need -- thus a word of caution to well-meaning providers who descend on affected communities with "needs assessments," supplies, and leadership from far away.

The idea makes sense: Imagine a climber unexpectedly stranded in the mountains. The first question would likely be "What do I have to survive the night?" rather than "What do I really need right now?"

But "helpers from outside the community find it hard to accept the fact that the community has strengths, resources, and abilities; that the local community is resilient," Lahad stated. "In the end, local forces are usually pushed aside, surrendering control to people from outside," he said, therefore making locals more passive and even helpless.

One way that confidence can develop, Lahad explained, is through "stories that communities tell themselves after disaster. If they are stories of resiliency, the community may survive the situation and build the ability to do better in the future."

That's where the media comes in, mass media and social media alike. Lahad called for a re-tooling of disaster news coverage with a "temporary refrain from negative coverage and critical reporting." However, journalists would need to carefully consider how to reconcile this strategy with their perceived mission to provide unbiased information in the public interest.

"When a community encounters disaster," Lahad continued, "you see in the media the destruction, people that are helpless and hopeless. But most people do function, they do their best to make the best out of the situation, to help themselves and to help others."

Social media's role in disaster reporting remains fertile ground for research. We probably do not understand the psychological impact, years later, that the overwhelming amount of content inevitably generated after an event may have.

Community leaders and public health responders can take Lahad's advice to heart. The point, it seems, is to trust in local strength and knowledge, and to allow community leaders to determine the trajectory of a response.

Strong communities can adapt. They can persevere through a difficult time, have faith in themselves and their families and, ultimately, bounce forward.

Christopher M. Tedeschi, MD, is reporting from South Africa for the WCDEM conference. He is an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and is actively involved in teaching wilderness and environmental medicine to residents, and serves on the education committee of the Wilderness Medical Society. Tedeschi is especially focused on the applications of wilderness medicine to international medicine and disaster response and preparedness.

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